Control apparatus and method of an internal combustion engine

Abstract

A control apparatus of an internal combustion engine includes an idle torque calculating portion, a target torque setting portion, and a target throttle opening amount calculating portion. The idle torque calculating portion and the target throttle opening amount calculating portion calculate the idle torque and the target throttle opening amount when the internal combustion engine is in a non-idling state, respectively, using a common physical quantity relating to an operating state of the internal combustion engine.

Description

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE[0001]The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-021020 filed on Jan. 30, 2006, including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The invention relates to a control apparatus and method of an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to a control apparatus and method of an internal combustion engine which avoids generating a torque step when switching the internal combustion engine to an idle off state (i.e., when the torque is operating in a state other than idling state) from an idle on state (i.e., when the engine is operating in a idling state) when executing control to control driving force.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]There is an idea that in a vehicle provided with an automatic transmission and an engine capable of controlling engine output torque independently of an accelerator pedal operation by a ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013]According to this first aspect, when the conversion from the target throttle opening amount to the idle torque of the internal combustion engine and the conversion from the target torque to the target throttle opening amount when the internal combustion engine is in a non-idling state are reversible, the idle torque and the target throttle opening amount when the internal combustion engine is in a non-idling state are calculated using a common physical quantity that relates to the operating state of the internal combustion engine. By sharing this physical quantity (such as the ignition efficiency and speed of the internal combustion engine which are parameters in the conversions) that relates to the operating state of the internal combustion engine in this way, the throttle opening amount when the internal combustion engine is in an idling state and the throttle opening amount when the internal combustion engine is in a non-idling state can be changed continuously, i.e., smoothly. If the throttle opening amount changes continuously, the output torque of the internal combustion engine also changes continuously so no torque step occurs. As a result, a control apparatus of an internal combustion engine can be provided which avoids a torque step at the boundary between the idle on (i.e., idling) state and a state in which the accelerator pedal has been depressed (i.e., in a driving force control region).

Problems solved by technology

Because the ignition efficiency in the idle on state differs from the ignition efficiency in the idle off state, the command values to the actuators in the internal combustion engine that have been converted from the target torque may be excessively large or excessively small such that a torque step may occur when switching from the idle on state to the idle off state.

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